


I Will Carry You

by MYuzuki



Category: Naruto
Genre: (temporary muteness, ...eventually, Adulthood Trauma too XD, Alternate Timeline kind of?, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bickering, Canon-Typical Violence, Childhood Trauma, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Good Uchiha Obito, Guilt, How Do I Tag, I cannot tag to save my life I swear XD, KakaObi, Kakashi & Obito bicker like an old married couple, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Mute Rei, Muteness, Obito and Kakashi are both about 21 or so at the start of this story just fyi, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Team as Family, Uchiha Obito Lives, but predominately Obito, due to a healing injury), for both pairings, i mean...there is plot but this story is self-indulgent at best XD, of varying degrees from various people, starting from about Kurama's attack on the village onward I guess, this story is vaguely crack-ish now that I think about
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-11-17 13:18:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11276076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: Rei and Misaki are two women who are far from home and need a safe haven, a place where they can hunker down to heal from recent traumas and plan their next move, and Konoha is supposedly one of most stable and secure Hidden Villages in all the world. For Obito, however, Konoha is his birthplace but no longer feels like home, not after everything's he's done and the damage he's caused; on some days, it feels like he'll never be able to atone for nearly destroying everything he once held dear. Luckily, his closest friend is a persistent and steadfast bastard who refuses to let him wallow in their shadowed past. [Eventual KakaObi and Misaki/Rei]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So....I have this problem, where I start more stories when I already have many others I need to be working on. XD (Anyone who already knows me is probably already laughing, because this is not a new thing. At all.) But! I do so love to write, and I also love to share my writing, so...yeah. ;D In any case, this fic is going to be both OC-centric and Kakashi & Obito-centric because....well, mostly because I am KakaObi trash, and also an unrepentant fan of original characters. Also because I enjoy doing stories where I can show parallels between canon characters and OCs (there's actually another fic I have started that also involves an m/m pairing of canon characters and an f/f pairing of original characters, so I'm starting to think I have a weakness for this sort of thing? Idk.)
> 
> In any case, the first chapter features a brief introduction to the two main original characters, Misaki and Rei, followed by a chunk of Kakashi and Obito that has a bit of angst but mostly consists of them bickering like a married couple, because why not? XD All chapters that follow with probably also contain various amounts of bickering, interspersed with actual plot. XD

**Chapter 1  
**

* * *

Misaki is tired, hungry, and overheated, but even so she can't quite stifle the kernel of relief and anticipation flaring in her chest. It's a small thing, this little sliver of hope, but it's also sharp and bright, making her heart pound in her chest and her breathing quicken.

They've arrived. Or...very nearly, at least.

It will be another few hours yet until the trade caravan she and Rei had joined up with reaches the gates of Konohagakure, but even so....they'd made it.

It had been a long, arduous journey from their small village in the Land of Lightning, and Misaki wouldn't hesitate for a moment to call the trip downright nightmarish from start to finish. Even now, she could still taste the coppery tang of blood and feel the hot mist of it against her face...could still picture Rei with a look of agony and disbelief etched onto her face as their enemy struck her down, using a poisoned claw gauntlet to more or less _tear out her throat_.

Rei had almost died that day. _Would_ have died, if not for sheer luck and stubborn determination.

Even now, almost two months later, Rei still hasn't recovered. The four deep gouges on her neck are healing, but slowly, _so_ slowly, and Rei's chakra coils are similarly making a molasses-slow recovery from the strain of overuse.

Not surprising, really, given how Rei had used up almost every ounce of her power in that fight with Tsubaki, and had then reached even deeper to fire off one last jutsu to cover their retreat (and how she'd even managed it was something Misaki couldn't understand; Rei had been _dying_ , blood gushing from her wounds and her chakra levels far too low, and somehow she'd still found a way to do it).

As it was now, Rei was a shadow of what she'd been before. Previously fierce and untameable, Rei was now...different. More subdued.

Part of it was, Misaki knew, the fact that her vocal cords hadn't finished healing yet, leaving her unable to talk without risking additional damage. And Rei had always been....not talkative, precisely, but...vocal. She was the kind of person who had had no compunctions about telling you exactly what she thought of you, your actions, and pretty much anything else that caught her attention, good or bad. She hadn't been a chatterbox in the strictest sense of the word, but she hadn't held back anything in conversation, either, to point where it almost bordered on verbal recklessness.

She had always been a bit reckless in her actions as well with her words, which was probably how she'd ended up nearly dead, but Misaki was past the point of caring what had led to the clusterfuck that was now their lives; she was just grateful that Rei was here, was alive, and that they were together.

Sure, their previously peaceful little village was currently under the control of a psychotic murdering bitch with no moral compass to speak of who was planning to force the other warriors there to fight for her, but...well, it wasn't like they could do much about it now, could they? They'd tried to fight Tsubaki, and they'd failed. They'd failed, Rei had nearly died, and they'd fled.

Had ended up in the Land of Fire, because of all the other Elemental Nations, it was supposed to be the one least fraught with danger, the one least likely to tear itself apart from internal fighting.

And while Misaki and Rei were formidable fighters in their own right, they were far from at their best right now. They needed somewhere safe to take refuge, somewhere safe where they could heal and rest and maybe, if they could bring themselves to do it, plan for their return to Enkoshi.

But that's something Misaki doesn't want to think about now; their return to their village in the Land Of Lightning is right now just a distant dream balanced on a tenuous hope, and it hurts her heart to think about it, even briefly. So she shoves it to the back of her mind, and goes to find her partner.

Rei is riding in one of the cargo wagons, her slight form nestled between barrels and crates of supplies that the merchants are bringing to Konoha. She's awake and alert, her gray eyes flickering around and examining the scenery as they trundle on down the road towards the Hidden Village in the distance, but it doesn't take a keen eye to see the exhaustion that clings to her like a second skin; it's clear in the lines around her mouth, the weary slump in her shoulders. Rei is only twenty, but it's at times like these that she seems older, like someone who's been chewed up by the merciless jaws of life and spat back out again.

Rei's also wearing a scarf around her neck, something that makes Misaki wince and sigh at the same time, because it's a warm spring day and there is absolutely no way Rei needs to be wearing winter-wear right now.

She hates that Rei feels the need to hide her throat, hide the bandages that cover her almost-healed wounds. She has a feeling that Rei won't get rid of the scarf once the bandages come off, either, once those wounds transition into scars.

It's not a good feeling, to realize that, because Misaki suspects that Rei is ashamed of those wounds, and she _shouldn't_ be. But Misaki doesn't want to bring up the topic and neither does Rei, because it's too soon, and neither of them can talk about what had happened, not yet.

Maybe not ever.

Rei notices Misaki's approach and glances over at her with a faint smile, and Misaki smiles back, dark thoughts drifting away because this is Rei, and she's alive, and she's smiling. Not as widely or as brightly as...as _before_ , but it's still a smile, and Misaki will take it.

“Hey,” Misaki says, breaking into a light jog so that she can keep pace with the cargo wagon.

Rei's smile widens a bit, and then she thrusts out a hand in invitation, eyebrows raised expectantly.

Misaki grins, because even if Rei hasn't reclaimed her voice yet, they can still communicate just fine most of the time. “Thanks,” she says, grabbing onto her friend's hand and letting herself be pulled up into the wagon.

Rei just hums in acknowledgment, squeezing Misaki's hand before letting go and settling back down.

Misaki hauls a large sack of potatoes out of the way so that she can sit down beside her partner. “I spoke with Jirou,” she tells Rei, naming the leader of the caravan. “He says that he can speak with some friends of his in town, see about getting us in touch with someone who can rent us a room or something. He also says that we can tag along with the caravan a little longer....if we want to,” she adds, because as much as she wants to stop here, take refuge in this Hidden Village where they won't need to be constantly on edge and waiting for an attack that might never come...as much as she wants to, it's not just _her_ decision. What Rei wants matters, too. Matters to Misaki more than her own desires, truthfully, because this is _Rei_.

Rei, who is now looking at her with an intense but inscrutable expression on her face.

“What?” Misaki asks, trying to make her voice sound light but probably (almost definitely) missing her target by a mile.

Rei just looks at her for a moment longer before huffing out a short sigh, tinged equally with exasperation and fondness. She reaches for her small knapsack and pulls out a scrap of paper and a pen. She hesitates for the briefest of moments, then quickly scribbles something down onto the paper and passes it over.

Misaki reads it, smiles at _We should stay_ written in Rei's elegant script, and tries to ignore the burn of grateful tears in the corners of her eyes. “Thanks,” she manages to say, her voice a little more hoarse than she'd like to admit.

Rei rolls her eyes, elbows her in the side in a vaguely chiding matter, as if to say _You don't need to thank me_ , and then leans back, eyes fluttering closed. She looks...content, almost. But also still so tired that it hurts Misaki's heart; Rei had always been full of such life before, and it's frustrating to see her so reduced.

Infinitely more frustrating for Rei, though; Misaki has seen the looks of angry self-loathing her friend wears whenever she's fed up with her slow recovery, and knows that even though Rei is putting up a good front of being okay with how things are going, she's very much struggling with her newfound helplessness.

Misaki reaches a hand out and lightly runs her fingers through Rei's hair in a comforting gesture that she's been using since their teenage years, back when they were just two girls struggling to build lives for themselves out of their blood-soaked pasts.

Rei's eyes open and she gives a low hum that rises at the end like a question, and Misaki just plays with her hair for another second before pulling away.

“It's nothing,” Misaki tells her. “I just...worry about you sometimes, that's all.”

Rei snorts, rolling her eyes, and flicks her fingers at Misaki in a 'shoo' gesture.

Misaki smacks her friend's hand away but swings out of the wagon anyway, landing on the ground and trying not to sigh as the dirt she kicked up sprays up and around and settles into her sandals. She doesn't mind being dirty (she's a blacksmith, after all; she spends a considerable portion of her time sweaty and filthy and covered in soot), but sand and pebbles in her sandals can never be anything other than irritating.

She looks up, sees the wickedly amused grin on Rei's face, because of course she was watching, and grumbles “Shut up”, the words automatic and with no real heat.

Rei just snickers some more before shaking her head and closing her eyes again, and Misaki lets her friend be this time, because what Rei needs most right now is rest, and even if it's just for a couple more hours until they reach the gates of Konoha, she's willing to let Rei have it, because there's nothing else Misaki can give her.

“I'll wake you once we arrive,” she tells her friend, and then drifts away to walk with some of the other caravan members once she receives Rei's answering nod of acknowledgment.

“Have you ever been to Konoha before?” one of the merchants asks her as they walk.

“No,” Misaki answers, shaking her head. “No, never. Rei and I have spent the last few years in the Land of Lightning.”

“And before that?” the merchant asks, slanting her a curious look.

“Before that...” Misaki echoes, thoughts drifting. Before that, they'd been refugees from the Land of Whirpools, from Uzushiogakure, which had been destroyed out of fear and jealousy by two rival shinobi nations. Misaki had only been three years old at the time, and Rei only two, but they'd both lost so much when their home country had fallen.

They hadn't met and become friends until many years later, but through a twist of fate both had ended up in not just the Land of Lightning, but Enkoshi, a small village composed of other wanderers and refugees who'd had their fill of bloodshed and death.

Of course, now the peace of Enkoshi had been shattered by a war-mongering kunoichi who'd almost killed Rei, so it seemed like the violence and bloodshed had caught up with them after all.

“Misaki-san?” the merchant says, frowning at her prolonged silence. “Is everything okay?”

 _Looks like I was wool-gathering a little too long_ , she muses, shaking her head. “Yes, I'm fine. Sorry.”

“You don't need to apologize,” the merchant says, giving her a warm smile. “I'm sorry for being so nosy.”

“Nah, it's alright,” Misaki assures him. “I don't mind. There's just...not much to say about my life before Enkoshi.” Nothing _good_ to say, at any rate. “You've been to Konoha before, though, haven't you?” she goes on, changing the subject.

“I have,” the merchant confirms with a nod. “This is my third trip here in the last year. It's a very nice village,” he adds. “The people are kind, and the shinobi are strong. There's almost never any serious trouble in town, other than a few break-ins and muggings, and even those are dealt with swiftly.”

“I can imagine,” Misaki says dryly, because, yeah, any sort of crime isn't likely to go unpunished for very long in _a village full of ninja_.

In any case, it sounds...perfect, for what she and Rei needed. A safe, secure place where they could lay low and recover from their most recent traumas.

 _I wonder if we'll meet anyone interesting while we're here_ , she wonders thoughtfully, even as her footsteps bring her closer and closer to the world's most famous Hidden Village.

* * *

 

“I hate you,” Obito hisses under his breath, tossing a pillow at his teammate's head.

Kakashi, being a frustrating asshole, just leans out of the way, letting the pillow sail past him and smack into the wall. “It's hardly my fault you're stuck in the hospital,” he replies, sounding thoroughly unconcerned, even though Obito can see the tension in his shoulders. “Besides, look on the bright side: they're discharging you in an hour, and after that you get a vacation.”

“Two weeks of mandatory leave, Kakashi. Two. _Weeks_.” He _hates_ mandatory leave.

“That _really_ isn't my fault,” Kakashi answers, lifting one shoulder in a half-shrug. “If you hadn't been critically wounded and then tried to convince the medic-nin that you didn't need medical attention-”

Obito glares at his teammate. “I _didn't_ need medical attention, I am perfectly fine-”

Kakashi doesn't even acknowledge Obito's interruption, steamrolling right over his words. “-even though you had a hole punched through you with a chakra blade-”

“In my right shoulder,” Obito snaps defensively, “which is made up of freakish unnatural flesh and heals quickly enough without-”

“-and _passed out at the end of the fight from chakra exhaustion_.” Kakashi crosses his arm and gives Obito a severe look. “You're lucky it's only two weeks of mandatory leave,” he concludes, “and not two _months_.”

Obito almost groans at the very thought. Two weeks is going to be terrible enough. Two months would almost definitely drive him all the way insane. And sanity is something he's only become reacquainted with in the last few years, so it's probably better if such risks are avoided.

Still...being stuck in Konoha for two weeks is going to be _miserable_. He doesn't...fit here anymore, isn't welcome. Granted, he deserves the hatred and the dirty looks (and the occasional death threat or assassination attempt) because he had, under the influence of Madara, unleashed the demon fox that had been contained in Kushina and set it upon the village.

He'd had, to Madara's immense surprise and alarm, a crisis of conscience almost immediately afterwards (because he could say he was doing this for Rin all he wanted, but he knew deep down that Rin wouldn't have wanted _this_ ). His horror and self-disgust at what he'd become (what he'd allowed Madara to _turn him into_ ) had prompted him to betray his ancestor and help Minato-sensei re-seal the fox (into his and Kushina's newborn son Naruto, unfortunately, because Kushina had been too weak at the time to survive having the fox sealed back into her body).

It hadn't been a fast enough turnaround on his part, though; the fox had still done considerable damage to the village, had still killed dozens of shinobi before Obito had weakened it enough for Minato to seal it away without any more deaths.

And even that had been close, far too close; if Minato hadn't had Kushina to help him with the seals, to aid him with her innate sealing skills born of her Uzumaki heritage, there was a very strong possibility that Minato would have sacrificed himself to seal the fox away again, and that was just too terrible to contemplate.

So, yes, he deserved the hatred of the others in the village. Deserved the contempt in their eyes whenever they looked at him. He deserved it, because of what he'd done, and he _knew_ that...but that didn't make it any less painful. Wouldn't make two weeks of forced leave any less of a hellish torture, with him stuck in a village with people who wished he was dead.

It still tore at him, with sharp jagged claws, whenever he passed someone on the street and they looked at him with eyes full of nothing but loathing and disgust. It had been six years since that horrible, awful night, but the glares and disparaging remarks hadn't gone away, hadn't even lessened very much, despite the fact that he'd been (after a severe vetting process and six months of intense supervision) reinstated as a Konoha shinobi upon his return to the village and had subsequently spent the majority of his time running missions for the safety and well-being of the village and its residents.

It wasn't enough, he knew. Not enough to earn anyone's forgiveness, and honestly that was fine. He didn't deserve their forgiveness. Didn't deserve _anyone's_ forgiveness, despite Kushina's assurance that she didn't blame him for what had happened and that it hadn't really been his fault. She'd told him that she didn't hold him responsible, that he'd been manipulated, and he supposes it's true up to a point, but...

He still can't bear to look at himself in the mirror, and not just because of the scars twisting across the right side of his face.

He's pulled out of his gloomy thoughts by a pillow crashing into his face. “Argh,” is all he manages to say as the thing explodes and feathers fill his mouth. “What was that for?” he demands, spitting out feathers to pin Kakashi in another glare.

“You got that stupid brooding look again,” Kakashi says, not apologetic in the slightest. “What have I told you before about thinking and how it's too much strain on your brain?”

Obito makes an obscene gesture at the other man before flopping back down onto his hospital bed with a groan that's two parts exasperation and one part I-think-I-just-pulled-my-stitches.

Kakashi gives him a look that's entirely unsympathetic. “Stop being a baby,” he says. “If you don't want to get saddled with mandatory medical leave, don't get critically injured on a mission.”

“It's not a critical injury for me, _I heal_.”

“Not fast enough to make it a moot point,” Kakashi shoots back, the faintest hint of true irritation creeping into his voice now. “Honestly, Obito, I thought we'd talked about this.”

 _Uh-oh._ “About what?” he asks, pasting an innocently confused look on his face.

“Don't even try that on me,” Kakashi says, clearly not buying it. “We talked about this, about your stupid tendency to take critical hits for other people, and I _distinctly_ remember us agreeing that you'd try to be better about not putting yourself in mortal danger unless there was no alternative.”

“No,” Obito counters, sitting back up despite the painful twinge in his shoulder, “you told me that I should be more careful and I listened when you said it. I didn't actually _agree_ to anything.”

“ _Obito_ ,” is all Kakashi says now, but there's such a depth to the tone in which he says it that Obito can't find the will to argue any longer, not when Kakashi has _that look_ on his face, like he thinks Obito's going to die or disappear again.

“Fine,” he says, huffing out a short sigh. “I'll _try_ to be more careful in the future, okay? Happy now?”

“Ecstatic,” Kakashi says, his voice drier than the deserts of Suna...but even so Obito can see the relief in his friend's eyes, see the way the worry and panic ease a little. “Now shut up and lay back down. If you mess up your stitches any more they're going to insist on re-doing them and keeping you here for another day.”

Obito grimaces at the thought of spending another night in the hospital and lays back down immediately. “Don't say shit like that,” he gripes, “you'll give them ideas.”

Kakashi just rolls his one visible eye and pulls out his latest Icha Icha novel. “Shut up and get some rest,” is all he says before flipping open the book and all but burying his face in it.

Obito huffs out a sigh that's half amusement and half aggravation, but follows his friend's advice and tries to relax; he won't be discharged from the hospital for another hour at least, and he _is_ tired. Might as well take advantage, especially with Kakashi here watching over him (he won't admit it to anyone, but he always just feels _better_ when Kakashi is around; he definitely doesn't deserve Kakashi's friendship, but he's too selfish to be anything other than grateful for it, because without Kakashi at his side these last few years, he's pretty sure that he really _would_ have gone insane).

He drifts off to sleep, vaguely wondering what the hell he's going to do for the next two weeks.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, that was the first chapter; basically it's more or less just an introduction to our four main characters and what's going on with them here at the start of the story. I'm not sure when I'll have the second chapter ready to post, but I've already written 1500+ words of it, so hopefully it won't be too long of a wait? ^_^;


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to everyone who checked out the first chapter! I hope you enjoy this second installment as well! :D

**Chapter 2**

* * *

 

Obito is inordinately grateful when he's finally booted out of the hospital; even the fact that he'd had to wait an extra forty minutes for the doctor to sign off on his discharge papers wasn't enough to totally dampen the sheer relief at being free from the hospital.

He doesn't _dislike_ hospitals precisely, but being bedridden while people poke and prod at him definitely isn't on his list of top ten ways to spend his time; he knows the medic-nin mean well, but their analytical gazes and probing hands always remind him just enough of being trapped with Madara as his madman of an ancestor cut into his body and replaced the missing pieces with something... _else_. Some weird and horrifying amalgamation of Senju cells and _alien plant matter_. (Seriously, what the fucking hell.)

He still isn't sure, on some days, whether or not he should be grateful to have survived that transplant.

It is nice to be alive, of course (mostly), but he can't help but feel that his life isn't worth the cost, isn't worth the damage he'd caused and the harm he'd done.

He sighs to himself as he leaves the hospital and is almost immediately smacked in the face with a familiar orange book. "What was that for?" he asks, irritated and oddly relieved at the same time (because as annoying as it is for his only living friend to be literally flinging porn in his face, it's nice to have him there at all).

Kakashi just gives him a knowing look, one that says he's all too aware of what Obito's thinking of, even if Obito's never shared the details of his...confinement. Obito has never worked up the nerve to discover whether or not Kakashi has read the report Obito had given regarding his time with Madara, but even if Kakashi hasn't seen it, he's not stupid (...usually); it wouldn't be hard to piece together the gist of the event from the bits and pieces that Obito's let slip the last few years.

And Kakashi has always just been a little too good at reading people, at least when he cares enough to pay attention to them (Obito can't decide if he finds it flattering or frightening that Kakashi cares enough to apply that focus to him, his fuck-up of a teammate who probably should have just stayed dead to spare everyone the trouble of dealing with him).

Kakashi makes an irritated sound, thwacks him with his book one more time, but doesn't poke at Obito to share his thoughts or feelings (he _never_ pushes, never forces Obito to talk when he doesn't want to, and it's something that Obito will always be grateful for). "What do you want for lunch?" Kakashi asks instead, apparently disregarding the fact that it's almost time for the sun to start setting and therefore well past the more traditional time for lunch. "My treat."

Obito trips over his own feet, blames it on chakra exhaustion and tired muscles, and pins his friend in a suspicious look. " _You'll_ pay? Who are you and what have you done with the real Kakashi?"

Kakashi makes a face that would probably be vaguely offended if half his face weren't covered by his mask. "I've paid for lunch plenty of times," he says, the faintest hint of defensiveness creeping into his voice.

Obito snorts, rolling his eye (and he knows it's petty of him, but it's at times like these that he wishes he still had both eyes, because rolling just the one doesn't have quite the same impact). "Name _one_ time," he fires back, melancholy mood dissipating like mist on the wind because somehow nothing pulls him out of a funk quite like bickering with Kakashi.

Kakashi opens his mouth to answer, hesitates, and then frowns.

"Exactly," Obito says dryly. "You _never_ pay for lunch. Or breakfast, _or_ dinner."

Kakashi gives an annoyed huff, but doesn't acknowledge this assertion in any way. "Hurry up and pick a place to eat or I'll drag you back inside the hospital," he threatens.

Obito's shudder is only partially feigned, and he quickly grabs Kakashi by the elbow and steers him off down the road. "Alright, alright, sheesh. There's no need be so dramatic." He chuckles under his breath. "How about that stir-fry place that opened up a few months? I've been meaning to stop by and try their yakisoba, but I haven't had time." Well, he'd had _time_ to go on his own, but not the _inclination_ ; it was hard to get excited about eating out when he'd be subjected to angry glares and disdainful whispers the entire time. He was only willing to go now because Kakashi was going with him, and people generally acted less hateful towards Obito when Kakashi was with him. (He's not entirely sure if it's because he himself is more tolerable with Kakashi around, or if everyone's just terrified of Kakashi disemboweling them if they look at him sideways too long, but he's grateful regardless.)

"Sounds good," Kakashi replies. "Let's go."

* * *

Rei is...annoyed.

She and Misaki had arrived in Konoha over three hours previously, and they still haven't found a place to stay. Well, scratch that, they _had_ found a place, thanks to one of Jirou's contacts, but the man they needed to track down to finalize the rental agreement was proving to be incredibly elusive.

He was supposedly out having a late lunch/early dinner with his wife, but Rei and Misaki had both failed to locate him at the various restaurants he supposedly frequented.

Granted, Rei is having more trouble than Misaki is, because getting information from people tended to be a bit difficult when _you couldn't fucking talk_.

Rei is so totally done with her life.

She's tired and in pain and all she wants right now is a roof over her head and a pillow underneath it, but it's starting to look like they might be out of luck, at least for today.

Misaki turns away from her previous conversation with another shop keeper (yet another one who hadn't seen Daichi, the man they were trying to rent an apartment from), wearing an expression matching Rei's: exhausted and irritated.

_What now?_ Rei asks, mouthing the words because she's too tired to lift her hands and sketch out the question that way (she's too tired for a lot of things lately, and it's really starting to grate; she knows she's healing, knows that she needs time to rest and recover, but she _hates_ it, this bone-deep weariness and the way it saps away so much of her energy and drive).

Thankfully, Misaki has gotten good at reading her lips, and understands her question without any trouble. "Now...I don't know." Misaki gives a small sigh and fiddles with the end of her long braid, a nervous gesture that she's had since childhood. "I'd say fuck it and go rent a room at an inn or something, but..."

Rei makes a slashing motion and mouths _No rooms_.

Misaki nods. "Yeah," she agrees tiredly. "They don't have any rooms left."

Rei makes a show of dramatically dragging a hand down her face before sneaking a look at her friend.

Misaki is smiling a little now at her antics, and Rei considers it a victory. "I know, I know, this is frustrating," Misaki is saying now. "I feel the same." She chews on her lower lip before giving a small shrug. "Look, let's go get something to eat; I'm starving, and I know you must be, too."

Well, that is...accurate, actually. Rei hasn't been eating as much as she probably should be (not _nearly_ as much, if she was being truthful with herself), so she's more or less _always_ hungry. And while she'd always been a bit on the slender side, she is now very definitely underweight; clothes that had once fit comfortably or snugly are now just a little too loose, and she's seen the worried looks Misaki is sending her way when the other woman thinks she wasn't paying attention.

It's _hard_ to eat, though, with her throat still so sensitive; she's been pretty much limited to broths and soups. And if she's feeling ambitious, _rice_.

Ah, yes. Rice. The food of the bold.

It's enough to make her want to scream (if only the action wouldn't tear into her recovering vocal cords).

She tamps down on her temper, though, because she's trying to be better at controlling her emotions and being angry right now isn't going to help anything. So she takes a deep breath, then another (and a third one just to be on the safe side), and forces her ire away, buries it deep down where it can't impact her actions (...for the moment, at least).

She turns back to Misaki, who's giving her one of those knowing looks, and offers a thin smile. _Food sounds good_ , she manages to mouth, flashing a weak thumbs up.

Misaki rolls her eyes, but hooks an arm around Rei's shoulders, steering her down the street. "How about noodles?" she asks as they weave in and out of the Konoha foot traffic. "I know you need to be careful of your throat, but noodles should be okay if you chew well, right?"

Rei ducks her head to hide her smile in the folds of her scarf, because what Misaki is _really_ saying is _You need to eat something more than broth and rice_. And Rei can't find it in herself to argue because it's the truth, and it's Misaki saying it. From anyone else the mothering might be stifling or irritating, but Rei can never bring herself to be upset with Misaki for it; it's touching enough that Misaki cares to begin with.

Misaki elbows her gently in the side and gives her an expectant look, evidently still waiting for some sort of answer.

Rei huffs out a small sigh and mouths _A noodle place is fine_ , following it up with another thumbs up just to leave no room for doubt.

Misaki gives a bright beaming grin that makes Rei's heart flutter, and takes her by the elbow, steering her down the street towards a nearby restaurant. "Great! Let's hurry, then, before all the seats fill up."

Rei rolls her eyes at her friend's enthusiasm, but allows herself to be tugged along anyway; it'll be a nice change of pace, she decides, for the two of them to have a relaxing sit-down meal in a safe village where no one is chasing them or trying to kill them.

Even if she can never quite forget the wounds she's carrying both inside and out...maybe she can ignore them, just for now. For tonight only, she can let herself be someone other than the young warrior who tried and failed to protect her peaceful village from a tyrannical psychopath. For tonight...maybe she can just pretend at being _normal_ , and that will be okay.

After all, what trouble could possibly start at a family friendly restaurant, in the heart of the safest Hidden Village?

* * *

Obito's not entirely sure how an all-out brawl started in the middle of an otherwise relaxed and uneventful early dinner hour, but given his standard type of luck (which tends more towards disastrously ill-fated with a side helping of hardship and tragedy) he can't say he's particularly _surprised_.

He _is_ pretty annoyed, though, and his irritation only gets worse when one of the instigators (some big burly man who seems to have come into town with one of the merchant caravans that had arrived earlier in the day) picks up one of the other patrons he'd been picking a fight with and hurls the man bodily across the room.

Naturally, the thrown man crashes down right on top of the table Obito had been sitting at with Kakashi. The table, being unaccustomed to holding that much weight at once, promptly splits down the middle, spilling the unfortunate man (and Obito and Kakashi's food) down onto the scuffed wooden floor.

"Somehow," Obito says as he scowls down at his shattered bowl and the udon it had held, "when they discharged me and said 'Take it easy', I don't think getting caught up in a fight at dinner is precisely what they had in mind."

"Who says we're getting caught up in anything?" Kakashi asks, but his voice is deceptively mild in that special way of his that means that someone is probably about to get their teeth kicked in.

Obito opens his mouth to call bullshit, because of course they're going to get involved, they can't _not_ ; even ignoring their ruined meal, they have a duty as Konoha shinobi to keep the peace. But before he can do much more than grimace and say his friend's name, there's an indignant holler of rage from the far corner of the restaurant where the other instigator of the dinnertime chaos had split apart from his friend to go pick a fight with some other patrons.

He and Kakashi crane their necks around just in time to see another person go flying across the room, but this time, to Obito's surprise, it's the troublemaker rather than a victim.

"What the fuck did we do in a past life to deserve this kind of shit?" an irate voice snarls, and despite the furious tone and cadence it's unmistakably a woman's voice. "Seriously? We can't even eat dinner without attracting some sort of trouble?"

There's so much shouting and panic and just general chaos that Obito can't hear whatever is said in response to the woman's angry outburst, and he gets abruptly too distracted to care when the man who'd fallen on their table suddenly levers himself upright and makes as if to charge back into the fray.

"Ah, hold on just a minute," Kakashi says, his voice pleasant with an undertone of steely warning as he snatches the man by the collar of his jacket and hauls him back over. "Why don't you just sit down over here like a good boy and avoid causing any more trouble, okay?"

The man sputters incoherently and turns an ugly shade of red. "H-hold on a minute now," he protests once he finds his tongue again. "I didn't start anything, it was them merchants that stirred up a ruckus!"

Kakashi just arches an eyebrow, squeezes the man's shoulder in a grip that looks friendly but could probably break bones if he applied just an iota more of force, and says nothing.

The man gulps audibly, and (wisely, in Obito's honest opinion) plants his ass in Kakashi's recently vacated chair. "I'll just, uh...stay here, then," he says weakly, all but trembling under the force of Kakashi's gaze.

"That's sounds like a great idea," Kakashi says, his tone overly bright. Then he turns to Obito. "Shall we?"

Obito isn't exactly eager for a fight (not with the standing orders of _nothing more than low-level exertion or else_ from the medic-nin hovering above his head), but nods anyway because even just for a stupid thing like this he's not leaving Kakashi on his own. Turning back to face the rowdy crowd, he sees that the situation has more or less dissolved into a disorganized melee fight. "It looks like that one's the ringleader," he offers, jerking his chin to indicate the burly man from before.

"Seems that way," Kakashi agrees, and takes a step in that direction, all lean grace and violent intent.

Before Kakashi's slow predatory lope gets him there, however, someone else slips through the crowd and charges at the initial instigator. All Obito can glimpse through the crowd is a slender figure with messy ash brown hair and a scarf before suddenly the burly man lets out a shout and topples over like a tree that's been felled in one motion by a very angry woodcutter.

"You little bitch-" the man starts to yell, but he's cut off by a woman's voice, although surprisingly not that of the one who knocked him on his ass with one decisive push kick.

"You're lucky that's all she did," the newcomer says, flicking her long braid over her shoulder with an irritated motion, and Obito recognizes her as the one who had shouted earlier. "And you're twice as lucky it wasn't me who delivered that kick, asshole," she adds, enough venom in her voice to knock a two-hundred pound gorilla dead.

The Kicking Woman straightens up and crosses her arms as she regards the fallen buffoon on the floor; Obito can't see the lower half of her face because of her scarf, but he's so used to reading minute facial expressions thanks to Kakashi and _his_ stupid mask that he doesn't need much to tell that she's an intriguing combination of spitting mad and resigned, as if she's ticked about all the trouble but not overly surprised by it.

Obito himself is in a pretty similar mood, so he steps forward to intervene and maybe say something apologetic and soothing on behalf of Konoha in general when the (apparently very stupid) man tries to stand up and cause more trouble. "Buddy, I'd stay on the floor if I were you," he says, very deliberately stepping on the man's outstretched arm in just the right way so that if he tries any harder to get loose _something_ will break. "Unless you want to experience firsthand what a cranky and hungry shinobi is capable of." Of course, he wouldn't _actually_ beat the living shit out of a civilian, even one that's an unrepentant asshole, but the asshole in question doesn't need to know that.

The man opens his mouth as if to fire back a retort (and seriously, _what a moron_ ), but then Kakashi steps forward on Obito's other side. He doesn't say a single word, just looks down at the man, but apparently that's enough, because the idiot does a pretty good impression of swallowing his own tongue as he hurries to shut up.

Obito huffs out a short sigh and gives his best friend a sideways glare. "I had it handled."

Kakashi just gives that annoying smirk that crinkles his eyes at the corners and starts humming under his breath as he pulls out his stupid Icha Icha novel.

"I hate you," Obito tells him, but they both know it for the lie it is so Kakashi's only response is to flip a page in his book and pointedly ignore Obito's existence.

Obito, for his part, is entirely used to his teammate's quirky and obnoxious behavior so he just rolls his eye and turns back to face the two women again.

Only to discover that they're no longer standing in front of him.

They are in fact, all the way across the restaurant, hustling out the front door as if they've suddenly remembered a pressing engagement elsewhere.

"Well, shit," is all Obito can think of to say at first. "Should we go after them?" he wonders aloud.

Kakashi gives a long-suffering sigh like Obito is the ridiculous one between the two of them (and, okay, sure, sometimes he _is_ , but he's much better now than he _was_ , definitely) and closes his book with a snap. "Let's not worry about it for now," he says, absently toeing at the ground with one foot as he glances around at the other patrons of the restaurant, who are starting to either settle down or vacate the premises now that the fighting is over and the instigators are being dealt with. "We can haul these idiots," he gestures to the three brawlers who are all in various sorry states, "to the closest Police Force processing station, fill out a report, and worry about those girls some other time."

"We probably don't need to worry about them at all," Obito feels obligated to point out. "They pretty obviously didn't want to caught up in any trouble."

"Anyone _really_ trying to avoid trouble would have run _away_ from the brawl instead of charging at the leader of it," Kakashi replies, but then gives a careless shrug like he doesn't actually care one way or the other. "There's not much we can do right now anyway; those two are probably long gone," he says now, even though he and Obito both know very well that if they split up, one of them staying here and the other pursuing the women, they could resolve the situation in moments, especially given how fast they both are.

But...well, it's _already_ pretty much resolved, right? The ones who started all the trouble are in custody and that's the important part...right? Because Obito can't quite bring himself to chase after two women who had only reacted in what was more or less self-defense; they weren't to blame for the fight, after all, they had just responded to the threat to their safety.

In a decidedly non-civilian way, but Obito is willing to let that intriguing peculiarity slide, at least for now, because he's tired and hungry and on two weeks of mandatory recovery leave so he _can't_ technically get involved in anything more strenuous than this without bringing the wrath of Konoha's (rather formidable) medical ninja down on his head. And obviously Kakashi feels similarly, or he wouldn't be advocating for such a course of action (or rather, non-action).

"Yeah," he says with a small sigh, leaning over to yank one of the three idiots upright so he can tie his hands behind his back. "I guess you're right. Let's frogmarch these idiots to some nice comfy cells and call it a night."

Kakashi's eyes crinkle as he gives what may or may not be an actual genuine smile, and Obito decides that even if he didn't get to finish his udon, maybe this night wasn't a complete and total disaster after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Chapter 3 will posted as soon as possible (the exact timing of which depends upon my workload, so...yeah. ^_^;).


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so a time-skip occurs in this chapter; it consists of about a week, and occurs during the first point-of-view change in the chapter; basically, the first section of the chapter takes place immediately after Chapter 2, and then things skip ahead to one week after that. This happens mostly because nothing terribly plot-relevant occurs during that unseen week; it mostly consists of Obito's first week of leave and Misaki and Rei getting (sort of) settled in. I technically could spend a handful of chapters detailing all the little things that happen during that week, but I'd much rather skip ahead to when Obito first meets them, so that's what we're doing in the second portion of this chapter. XD
> 
> (Also, I wasn't planning to update for at least another day or two, but I am both 1) excited to post another chapter and 2) about to be busy with a new freelance writing project that possibly would have made me late to update if I hadn't decided to do it now. XD).

**Chapter 3  
**

* * *

"I'm going to kill him," Misaki says, seething. "I'm going to chop his head off and go bowling with it, I don't care what Jirou says!"

Rei figures this is probably the part where she should try and do something to bring her friend's boiling rage down to more of a simmer, but not only can she not do so effectively due to her muteness she's not really feeling any particular desire to mellow things out.

Because she's just as pissed off as Misaki is; if not for the wave of exhaustion that had hit her right after she'd kicked Kenta hard enough for his ancestors to feel it, she'd have kept on with her attack and thrashed the idiot until he cried for mercy.

For not the first time, she wonders if his woodworking skills really are good enough to justify Jirou keeping him in the caravan or if Jirou is just too kind to oust the musclebound moron; of course, she and Misaki had survived up their journey to Konoha thanks to that same kindness and generosity, so she supposes that she shouldn't be so tetchy about it.

"I can't believe this," Misaki is saying now, "We have the worst luck!" and Rei is a bit amused by how, in a strange role reversal, Misaki is fuming and verbally spitting fire in a way that's eerily similar to Rei's own behavior prior to her close brush with death.

Rei's always been a bit temperamental, and she's self-aware enough to know that her straightforwardness with both her actions and her emotions has caused her trouble in the past; hell, it had almost gotten her killed, when she'd rushed in to fight Tsubaki without stopping to consider the situation and the potential consequences of failure (...and truth be told, she hadn't even quite considered the possibility of failure at all to begin with, which is probably a failure of sorts in and of itself).

She is...reckless, she supposes. And things had always worked out somehow, before Tsubaki had attacked Enkoshi, so she'd never seen any reason to change herself, to outgrow her recklessness and disregard for caution and planning.

She wants to change that, somehow. She doesn't know how, but she wants to. She's still got a long ways to go, if her immediate and instinctive charge at Kenta is any indication, but still...she wants to improve that aspect of herself, and that's at least a step in the right direction, right?

"And we still haven't found the guy we're supposed to be renting a place from!" Misaki is dramatically flailing her hands around now, and Rei can't help the snort of amusement that escapes her. "Hey," Misaki says, "what's so funny?"

Rei pastes on an expression of innocence and just blinks at her friend.

Misaki rolls her eyes and huffs out a sigh. "Fine, fine, I'll stop bitching. But I just..." She shakes her head in exasperation. "I can't believe we came all this way, in the hopes of finding somewhere peaceful to recuperate and  _got dragged into dinner brawl_. Seriously, what are the odds?"

Rei shrugs, then stifles a yawn, because apparently spending more than a minute and a half in a high intensity situation is more than her exhausted and recovering body can handle at the moment; she's drop dead exhausted from that brief spate of exertion, and while that's insanely frustrating on general principle given how active she'd been prior to her failed fight with Tsubaki, all she wants right now is to take a nap.

Misaki, of course, notices the yawn immediately and her expression goes sharp and worried. "Maybe we can track down Jirou and see if he'll let us bunk down in one of the wagons, just for the night? We can always try and find Daichi tomorrow, I guess," she says uncertainly.  _I don't want you to have to keep running around like this in your condition_ , goes unsaid but comes across to Rei loud and clear for all that it's said entirely silently.

She's touched by the concern, but also...annoyed. Not at Misaki,  _never_  at Misaki, but...it's frustrating as hell, being so weak and useless like this. Her endurance had previously been one of her most notable qualities, along with her proficiency with sealing techniques and water techniques, but her body had yet to bounce back from the almost fatal wounds she'd sustained, and that wasn't even counting the severe chakra exhaustion that she was still recovering from. Although she supposed that was only logical; she'd run her previously extensive chakra reserves down to practically nothing, after all, it made sense that bouncing back from that wasn't going to be as easy as she would like.

So, yes, logically she understands that her recovery is slow for entirely legitimate reasons. Emotionally, however?

It's enough to make her want to put her fist through the closest flat surface, and she's actually never been an overly violent woman, unless it was absolutely necessary.

_Calm down_ , she tells herself, trying to scrape together some modicum of patience and steadiness.  _Everthing will be fine, just calm down._ She's going to recover eventually; she is. She just needs to be patient.

She reaches for the bag slung across her shoulder and pulls out the first scrap of parchment she touches, along with a stubby bit of charcoal.  _Forget Jirou_ , she scrawls onto the paper.  _We've imposed on his hospitality enough already._

Kisaki scans her words quickly and purses her lips. "But-"

_Let's split up one more time_ , Rei scribbles.  _Daichi should still be at dinner with his wife; if we hurry, we can catch him before they go home for the night._

Misaki gives her a (justifiably) dubious look. "We tried that once already, Rei, and got absolutely nothing to show for it. What will make this attempt end any differently?"

_Because this time I am cranky and need sleep_ , is Rei's immediate response.  _And because you are, too._

"Fair point," Misaki concedes with a wry smile, because it is; they'd been a bit caught up with sight-seeing earlier, too enamored with drinking in the atmosphere of Konoha and its bustling citizens to be properly motivated in finding one single man.

Now, though? Now they're plenty motivated, and the two of them are a formidable force when motivated, regardless of how belated that motivation might be.

_Let's go_ , Rei says, and Misaki nods, and the two of them slip quickly and quietly down the street in opposite directions.

(After an hour and forty minutes of intense searching, they finally track down Daichi, just as he's walking home with his wife; after a brief but heartfelt discussion, he apologizes for being difficult to track down and agrees to a short-term lease on a small two-story building in one of the village's mercantile districts.

This works out pretty perfectly for Misaki and Rei, because if they really apply themselves, they might just be able to open up a shop of their own to make a little money, just as soon as Misaki finds a forge she can use to start creating again.

Until then, though, it'll suffice just as a place to rest their very weary heads, and if it doesn't feel like home when they enter it for the first time...well, that's fine, isn't it? They aren't planning to stay here forever, and this will do for now.)

* * *

Obito spends the first week of his mandatory leave alternately at home in the apartment he shares with Kakashi (because he's been more or less been semi-officially ousted from the Uchiha district, which is...actually perfectly fine with him since his relationship with his clan had always been rocky at best even  _before_  his brief tenure as an enemy of the village) or at one of the village's many training grounds, absentmindedly going through the motions of familiar katas as he lets his mind wander.

The second week, though...that's when he starts to go a little stir-crazy over having nothing much to do other than stay at home to catch up on his reading or mindlessly rehearse moves he could perform in his sleep.

Kakashi spends time with him whenever it's possible, but only Obito is stuck on mandatory leave, so more often than not Kakashi is out of the village on missions, leaving Obito on his own.

And while Obito is plenty familiar with being on his own, it's never been something he enjoys; also, if his track record is anything to go by, him being left alone with just his thoughts for too long doesn't generally end well.

He decides to distract himself by going shopping. They need some groceries anyway, and he and Kakashi could both use some new sets of kunai, if he can find a shop that has good quality ones for a reasonable price (there's never been a shortage of weapons shops in Konoha, but it can sometimes be a bit of a challenge to find a seller with merchandise that meets all the criteria that Obito and Kakashi use to judge their tools).

There are one or two shops he frequents more than the others, and one in particular he personally prefers, so he points himself in that general directions and sets out.

Obito is at somewhat of a loss for what to do when he reaches the weapons shop he normally buys from to see the blacksmith who runs it hanging a "Shop closed due to personal emergency" sign on the door.

"Tanaka-san?" Obito says questioningly as he approaches. "Is...everything okay?"

The smith turns around with a startled expression, like Obito had caught him by surprise (unlike so many other villagers, though, Tanaka's eyes never darken with wariness or suspicion whenever Obito speaks with him, something Obito is unspeakably grateful for). "Oh, Uchiha-san," Tanaka says when he sees him and registers his identity. "Forgive me, I didn't notice you coming over."

"You don't need to apologize," Obito replies. "It's my fault for sneaking up on you like that." He bites his lip, gaze drifting over to the sign once more. "Personal emergency, huh?"

Tanaka sighs. "My daughter," he says in explanation, looking grim. "She lives in a small farming village about two days' travel away from here, and her husband went missing about a week ago. She needs someone to come out and help her look after their children until he's found, and the rest of our family lives too far away to be of much use."

"Yikes," is all Obito can think of to say, because, yeah, that sucks for all involved; people do go missing in the countryside from time to time, some of them falling prey to bandits or highwaymen, but even so...for something like that to happen relatively close to Konoha is vaguely troubling.

And there's a part of Obito, a part born of a lonely childhood and person-shaped holes in his life where parents should have been, that wonders how Tanaka's grandchildren are handling the situation. Are they still patiently and eagerly waiting for their father to return? Or are they starting to worry that they'll never see the man again? "Is there anything I can do to help?" he asks, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he has a chance to actually think the offer through.

Tanaka seems to consider it for a moment, but then shakes his head. "No," he says with a small sigh. "It's okay, Uchiha-san; we'll muddle through somehow. I am sorry to disappoint you and the others by closing up shop like this, though."

Obito waves a hand dismissively. "Nah, it's fine. Your family needs you right now." He'd be the same, if he had any family of his own other than Kakashi, who is simultaneously his best friend while also being something  _else_  that Obito can't quite put his finger on (he occasionally has a nagging suspicion that the "something else" is a tether to his sanity, but that sounds so over-dramatic that he doesn't consider the idea very often).

(He wants to count Minato-sensei, Kushina, and their son Naruto as family, too, but he's painfully aware of the fact that he doesn't deserve to claim them as such, as much as he might crave that closeness again).

Obito clears his throat, shoving away his drifting (and depressing) thoughts and re-focusing on the man in front of him. "Any recommendations for another shop I can use while you're gone?" he asks, feeling just the tiniest bit guilty for even asking in the first place, because, hello, customer loyalty.

Tanaka doesn't seem particularly bothered by the question, though (or if he is bothered, his poker face is better than Obito had previously thought). "If you'd been asking me that last month, I'd send you over to old Yamaguchi in a heartbeat, but I heard that his work has hit a bit of a slump lately; his products are more prone to breakages and defects lately, apparently. It might just be the ore he's using, but whatever the cause is I can't really recommend his shop in good faith at the moment."

Obito has to fight to hold in his sigh; Yamaguchi's shop is typically his first alternative to Tanaka's.

Tanaka seems to notice the blatantly unhappy look on Obito's face. "There is someone else," he offers, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "A woman. She came into town about a week ago, her and her friend. They were with that trade caravan, I think; nice enough young ladies the both of them, if a bit rough around the edges. Anyway," he continues, "the one with long hair has come by a few times since, renting time at my forge to get some work of her own done. She's planning to open up a shop of her own, eventually, I suppose, although she hasn't said much about it yet."

"Is her work any good?" Obito asks curiously.

"Pretty damn great," Tanaka answers. "She's young, just around your age I'd guess, but there's no doubt that she's got a knack for the craft. It seems like she specializes in weaponry, too, rather than jewelry like some other lady smiths. You can find her two streets north of here," he tacks on. "She and her friend are renting that little two-story place by the bookstore."

"The one Daichi's been trying to lease out for the last year and a half?" Obito asks, wanting to make sure he's thinking of the right place.

"That's the one," Tanaka agrees. "I got the impression that they're not quite comfortable here yet, though, so I'd recommend not pushing too hard if they don't want to see you."

"Don't worry," he tells the blacksmith, giving a faint smile, "I'm not Bakashi; I'll be a perfect gentleman, I promise."

Tanaka gives a small snort of amusement, a reaction born out of witnessing a fair number of (mostly good-natured) spats between Obito and Kakashi whenever the two of them went weapons shopping together. "Just be yourself and you shouldn't have too many problems with them. Make sure to ask for Misaki, though, she's the blacksmith; the other one, Rei...she doesn't seem very social; I don't think I've ever heard her speak at all, now that I think about it." He frowns for a moment, then shrugs. "I wish you luck, in any case. And let me know if you do end up liking Misaki's work; if she doesn't open up a shop of her own, maybe I can convince her to lend a hand at mine."

"I'll definitely let you know how her products compare to yours," Obito promises, because that's the very least he can do for Tanaka when the other man is so graciously recommending another supplier to him, purely out of the goodness of his heart. "Although I doubt anyone's work will be better than yours," he adds, because it's the truth; Tanaka's shop is his first choice for a reason, after all.

"Take care of yourself, Uchiha-san," Tanaksa says now, tipping his head down in a farewell nod. "I look forward to seeing you when I return to the village."

"Thanks," Obito responds. "Good luck with your daughter and grandkids."

Tanaka nods, and then turns away to pick up his travel bag slinging it over his shoulder before checking to make sure the door of his shop is properly locked before giving one final wave and striding away down the street; after only a moment or two, he's swallowed by the rest of the foot traffic milling about on the streets, and Obito's left standing on his own again.

He doesn't linger long, though; he casts one last look at Tanaka's now-closed shop (hopefully temporairily, but there's no telling when Tanaka might return from his daughter's little farming village) and wanders away down the street in the opposite direction.

Eventually, he makes his way two blocks north and half a block over, to the building where Tanaka had said he could find the blacksmith woman. (Misaki had been the name right? Or had it been Mitsuko? Miyako? Obito feels a brief sting of guilt that he hadn't been paying enough attention to Tanaka's bits of information, but quickly banishes the feeling; with any luck he'll be getting a proper introduction in a moment anyway).

Normally, he wouldn't bother visiting an unestablished and (thus far) unproven weapons maker, not when his safety (and more importantly, Kakashi's safety) depended on the products purchased there, but an endorsement from Tanaka is no small thing, and while Obito isn't precisely  _friends_  with Tanaka, he  _is_  friendly enough with the blacksmith to understand that.

And if he's also just a little bit eager to meet and talk to someone from outside of Konoha, someone who won't look at him with shadows of judgment and condemnation in their eyes...

...Well, no one but him has to know that, right?

* * *

 

Rei looks down at the small wooden crate of kunai in front of her and barely suppresses the urge to hurl them all out the nearest window.

It's not even the kunai she finds annoying; no, what she finds so aggravating is the fact that her stupid slow-healing throat had gotten her left behind while Misaki goes out to try and convince some of the local merchants in town to start carrying the kunai and shuriken she's been making.

Logically, she can understand why she's better off waiting at home (although she's hard-pressed to call this two-story shack "home"). She can't talk, probably won't be able to even  _try_  to talk for at least another week or two, and convincing a finicky merchant to carry a new product requires almost nothing  _but_  talking and persuasion.

Truth be told, Rei probably wouldn't be much good with persuading a shopkeeper even if she  _could_  talk; she's good at  _reading_  people, but  _getting along with them_  is something else entirely. Honestly, under normal circumstances, she'd be more than happy to sit on the sidelines.

But these aren't normal circumstances. She's not sitting in her real home, the cottage in Enkoshi that she'd shared with Misaki before Tsubaki had appeared out of nowhere like the villain of a horror story. She can't distract herself here the way she would there; she can't pick up one of her favorite books and re-read her favorite sections, or go outside to weed her garden; she can't even practice her kenjutsu or Suiton jutsu because she and Misaki had agreed to try not to draw attention to themselves (instinctive bully-kicking at restaurants notwithstanding), and nothing draws attention in a shinobi village quite like rehearsing foreign jutsu in the streets.

So instead of doing any of that, she's stuck in this small two-story condo, sorting through and sharpening the most recent batch of kunai and skuriken that Misaki had made using another local smith's forge and workshop.

She's never been so bored in her entire life.

It's probably (definitely) the boredom that has her perking up when someone knocks on the front door, even though she knows that there shouldn't  _be_  anyone knocking on that door.

It could be an enemy, or a spy. Or even worse, someone trying to sell her something.

She gets up and goes to open the door anyway.

Whoever or whatever is at the door...well, it's almost definitely going to be more interesting than sitting here, bored and alone, right?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally meant to update sooner, I swear. But I got a bit sidetracked by some other stories I'm working on and somehow, despite the fact that I've had Chapter 4 ready to post for ages, the actual posting of the chapter managed to slip my mind? I'm sorry! But if it's any consolation this chapter is the "Obito meets Rei and Misaki" chapter that I've been excited about since the beginning. Enjoy!

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Obito isn't sure what to expect when the door opens.

The slender scarf-wearing woman he vaguely remembers from a week ago definitely isn't it, though.

"You!" blurts out of his mouth before he can get control of himself, memories of a very decisive push kick and the boisterous asshole that kick had felled at the forefront of his mind as he openly gapes.

The woman tenses just ever so slightly, like she's bracing for a fight, and gives him an inscrutable once-over, her gray eyes sharp and wary like she's assessing a potential threat (and Obito wonders at that, but doesn't comment on it...not yet, at least).

Finally, after what feels like a short eternity, something like recognition flares in her eyes and she dips her head in a slow nod of acknowledgment.

She doesn't speak, though, just arches a single eyebrow, leaving Obito to fumble awkwardly over his own tongue as he tries to explain his presence on her doorstep.

"I'm sorry to bother you," he says, "but I'm looking for, uh...Misaki? I need to buy some weaponry and Tanaka said she does good work."

A pleased look not unlike pride flits across the woman's face, but she still doesn't say anything, just looks at him, and he starts to wonder if her silence is a pointed way of telling him to get lost.

Then her gaze drifts to the right side of his face, and he tenses automatically, bracing himself for the inevitable pitying look, the all-too-common cringe she'll undoubtedly give (it's a reaction he's seen too many times to count, and somehow it still cuts at him every single fucking time, even though it's been years since he got those scars and should be immune to other people's pity and disgust).

That negative reaction never comes, though, to Obito's immense surprise. The young woman instead gives a wry half-smile when she sees the scarring on his face, a smile that quirks up a little more when she notices his surprise at her lack of alarm at his disfigurement.

In one smooth motion, she reaches up and tugs down the top loop of her thick scarf, revealing four deep and large scars starting on the right side of her neck. The severity of them makes Obito wince a bit in sympathy, because they look like something (or someone) had literally attempted to claw out the woman's throat, and he can't imagine such an experience being anything other than utterly agonizing; the scar tissue looks fresh, too, still red and inflamed-looking in some places, so Obito feels like he can reasonably assume that the wounds occurred relatively recently; within a month would be his guess, though it could be less or more depending on the woman's healing rate.

Obito tries to think of something to say, remembers Tanaka's "Just be yourself" and how annoyed he himself gets whenever someone pities him over his scars, and says, "Well, damn, looks like I'm no longer the most attractive person in town. I feel like I should demand recompense or something; I was promised that  _I'd_  be the one with the gnarliest scars for the next decade at least."

The woman blinks at him, looking briefly thrown for a loop, then gives a crooked grin of delight.

Obito smiles back, pleased. "Uchiha Obito," he says by way of introduction, holding out a hand.

The woman rolls her eyes, pulls a scrap of paper out of her pocket, scribbles on it with a piece of charcoal he didn't notice her holding, and slaps it into his outstretched palm.

_Hisakawa Rei_ , the note reads, the characters written in an elegant but hurried hand.  _Pleased to meet you._

"You can't talk," Obito realizes belatedly, finally understanding why she'd never spoken, either here or at the restaurant. "Your wounds?" he assumes, waving at his own neck.

Rei nods, giving an irritated grimace as she lifts one hand to her throat, fingertips ghosting over the scar tissue.

"Well, that...totally sucks," is all Obito can think of to say now, because he can't quite imagine not being able to talk. The very idea of is...staggering, in a way that almost breaks his brain as he tries to picture himself in a similar situation. Even when Madara had been carving him up and turning him into a monster, he'd still been able to talk, to complain and ask questions and scream into the darkness when he thought he was alone.

Rei, for her part, gives a sharp grin that holds no amusement and waves for him to come inside. Once he does so, she shuts the door behind him and goes over to a nearby table to retrieve a larger sheet of paper.

_It's the worst_ , is the first thing she scribbles down, obviously in response to Obito's previous remark.  _Misaki is pitching her merchandise to some other shops right now_ , she writes next, answering Obito's original query.  _I have some kunai and shuriken here, though, if you really are interested in examining her work._  A pause in her writing as she taps her charcoal absently against the edge of the table, clearly contemplating something.  _We have a couple swords you could look at, too_ , she puts down at last, biting her lip.  _If you're into kenjutsu, that is._

Obito's immediately intrigued, despite his own hesitation about purchasing from an unproven blacksmith. "Your friend makes swords, too? Impressive."

And there's that look again, an interesting mix of pride and fondness.  _She's from a long line of weapons smiths_ , is Rei's written response. Then she pushes aside the paper and charcoal stub and reaches for a small wooden crate full of kunai.

She pulls out a handful and lays them across the table before reaching for her paper again.  _Misaki made these a few days ago_ , she tells Obito.  _I'm still sharpening some of them, but you can inspect the finished ones for yourself._

"Alright," Obito says, reaching for the closest dagger. "Sounds good." He picks it up and is impressed with how well-balanced it is, and how easy it is to hold; after peering at the handle for a moment, he notices that its been contoured, just a little, to make it easier to grip and use.

It's just a small thing, really...but it's something that most smiths don't bother with, since such careful crafting takes extra time and their goal is typically to just make as many kunai as possible as quickly as possible; most smiths don't see the point in going that extra step, not when shinobi go through kunai so quickly.

But  _this_  smith, this Misaki woman...she had done it. She had gone to the trouble of contouring the handles, had spent just that extra bit of time on it.

For  _every single kunai_ , Obito notices, and can't help but be faintly impressed, because even if the woman is naturally gifted at smithing and from a long line of weapons makers, that short of thing would still take more time than most blacksmiths would be willing to sink into something so seemingly inconsequential.

_Dedicated to her craft, then_ , he concludes, and carefully runs a finger along the edge of the blade; Rei's sharpened it  _very_  well, he notices, giving a wry smile when a thin line of blood springs up on his finger as he pulls it away.

Rei gives him a look that's equal parts amused and exasperated and vanishes into an adjacent room, returning a moment later with a small dishtowel that she tosses right in his face.

"Thanks," he says, sweeping a low and dramatic bow before carefully dabbing at his finger, even though he really doesn't need to. "Most kunai don't come that sharp when you buy them," he remarks absently as he pulls away the towel and sees that the cut is already clotting and starting to seal itself.

Rei gives a slight shrug, scribbles  _Seems stupid to make a customer waste time sharpening them themselves when they're paying you for the best product_ , and then strides over to another wooden crate, this one full of carefully stacked and packaged shuriken. She pulls out a few of them and brings them over to Obito, expression carefully neutral.

Obito sets down the dishtowel and takes the offered shuriken, frowning a bit as he holds them. "What are these made out of?" he asks curiously. "They're way lighter than what I'm used to." He holds one up to eye-level and notices that's it's thinner than what he's used to as well. "Doesn't making it this thin make it more likely to shatter or crack upon impact?" he asks dubiously, wiggling it in his hand a bit and trying to imagine something so lightweight doing any sort of significant damage.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" a new voice says, and it takes all of Obito's self-control not to attack in self-defense on general principle and instinct alone (...it also takes all his control to not jump ten feet in the air and scream like a frightened five year-old over being snuck up on, but whatever). "But the tempering process I use is unique, and it makes the metal incredibly durable."

Turning around, he sees a long-haired woman who can only be Misaki; he vaguely recognizes her from that night in the restaurant, but making out the details of her appearance is definitely easier now that they're in better lighting without a crowd between them blocking his view.

She's taller than Rei, who seems to a couple inches shorter than Obito's own height of five foot seven-ish. If forced to guess, Obito would peg Misaki as maybe five eight or so; she's a bit taller than Obito himself, but also shorter than Kakashi (who'd had the aggravating indecency of shooting up like a beanpole the second he'd hit puberty, the bastard).

Even more noticeable than her height, though, is her healthy tan, the three small silver hoops she has pierced through each ear, and the way her body is lithe but muscular, undoubtedly honed from many hours spent laboring at or around a forge.

There's also her piercing copper eyes, which are currently fixed on Obito in a suspicious glare.

"Is this guy bothering you, Rei?" Misaki asks, and her tone pretty well implies that Obito's going to be in for a world of hurt if the answer is yes.

Rei, however, just rolls her eyes and does some sort of complicated motion with her hands before mouthing out what Obito belatedly recognizes as  _I'm fine_ once he scrapes together what he remembers from long-forgotten Academy classes on lip reading.

Apparently this simple reassurance is all Misaki needs, because her threatening aura immediately vanishes, replaced with a sunny smile. "Well, okay then. I'm Kobayashi Misaki. It's nice to meet you."

Obito eyes her outstretched hand, notices again how strong she seems, as well as the small scars littered across the skin of her hands and arms, and opts to give a small bow instead, because he's pretty sure getting his hand crushed in a handshake is not something he wants to put on his list of Things I Accomplished Today. "Uchiha Obito," he replies. "And it's nice to meet you, too. Your friend Rei was just showing me some of your work."

Misaki glances over at Rei and the two of them seem to have an entire conversation in the span of a few silent seconds. "And you guys have...been getting along okay? No problems...communicating?"

Rei rolls her eyes and huffs out a short breath, and it's all Obito can do to not laugh at the look on her face, which is a hilarious combination of long-suffering and indignant.

"No," he assures Misaki. "We haven't had any problems. I think we're getting along pretty well, actually."

"Hmm," is Misaki's only reply at first, as those bright eyes zero in on his scars and something like realization flashes across her face. "Most people give up on getting along with Rei," she tacks on after a moment, her words coming slowly like she's testing them out (or perhaps testing him and his reaction to them). "Between her scars, temperament, and inability to talk right now...well, it's generally enough to drive most people away. Or at least make them unenthusiastic about further meetings in the future."

"I'm not most people," Obito replies, giving a self-deprecating smile as he gestures at his scarred face and eyepatch. "Besides, not being able to  _talk_  isn't the same as not being able to  _communicate._  Anyone with half a brain and the slightest bit of motivation can work out half a dozen relatively easy ways to carry on a conversation with someone, even if that someone can't actually speak."

Misaki stares at him, then smiles like he's somehow the most incredible thing she's ever come across, and then turns to look at Rei, who gives a small smile of her own and nods.

"What is it?" Obito demands. "Why are you making faces like I just passed some secret test of character?"

"Because you did," Misaki says with a laugh, coming over to pat him on the shoulder. "You'd be surprised by how many people just totally disregard Rei, all because of how she's temporarily mute. Then again, maybe you  _wouldn't_  be surprised," she allows, eyeing his scars with a sympathetic (yet not pitying) expression.

"Yeah, no, people can be assholes about shit like that," Obito agrees. "But considering my own issues, I'm in no real position to judge others, so..." He shrugs. "Rei's scars don't bother me at all, and neither does the muteness. Although you did mention that you think it's temporary? That must be a relief."

"Yeah," Misaki agrees, going over to the box of kunai that Rei had been rummaging around in earlier. "We'll need to take things slow, given the severity of the damage, but Rei's vocal cords  _are_  healing, thankfully; it's just a slow process, since her healing's being slowed down by chakra exhaustion."

Obito ingests those pieces of information, tumbles them around in his brain for a few moments, puts together  _chakra exhaustion_ ,  _weapons smith_ , and  _battle scars_ , and then looks at the two women in careful consideration.

"You're not regular civilians," he says, and it's not  _quite_  an accusation, but it's fairly close.

Rei gives him a pained smile and shakes her head, even as Misaki reaches out an arm and pulls the other woman into a loose embrace.

"Nope," Misaki says. "We're not. We're also not foreign shinobi, though," she adds quickly. "Or at least...not quite."

"What do you mean, not quite?" Obito questions, scowling. "It's either you are or you aren't, there's not much middle ground."

Misaki gives a laugh that's one part amusement and two parts bitterness. "Isn't there?" she responds, shaking her head. "Look," she goes on, seeing the look on Obito's face, "we're not a threat to your village, I swear. Rei and I are warriors from a small middle of nowhere village in the Land of Lightning. Rei was almost killed when our village was attacked, and we just need somewhere to recuperate while we plan our next move, that's all."

Obito looks at her now,  _really_ looks...and can't find any signs that she's lying. There are pieces of her story missing, because of course there are...but the core of her explanation rings true, so he tamps down on his suspicion.

These two women seem...genuine, in a way other people sometimes aren't. There's a sort of weariness to them, but a toughness, too, a determination to survive and thrive no matter what, and it resonates with Obito in a way he wouldn't have expected (in a way it probably wouldn't have if he hadn't been crushed under ten tons of heavy rock, used as a madman's science experiment, and manipulated into nearly destroying everything he loved before tortuously hauling himself back into a semblance of normality).

So he says, "Okay," and spends the rest of the afternoon chatting with the two women. It's proves to be a lively affair, despite (or perhaps because of) Rei's contributions consisting mostly of flailing, eye rolls, and hasty scribbles on scraps of paper.

He returns home at the end of the day to the apartment he shares with Kakashi (still empty, because Kakashi is currently on an escort mission that will keep him away for at least another day and a half, and that's assuming things go well and there are no complications), his arms full of wrapped parcels containing shuriken and kunai.

He's already agreed to pay them a visit tomorrow as well, since Misaki and Rei had decided that he needed a new sword, too, and that they would be the ones to provide it.

Rei had also seemed disproportionately excited about the prospect of a kenjutsu spar with him, so there's that to look forward to as well, although something about the mischievous glint in Misaki's eyes when Rei had first proposed the idea had given him the distinct impression that he's going to need to watch his step during that spar, despite the fact he's been hyper-competent with just about any form of weaponry ever since his training with Madara.

All in all, it's been a surprisingly satisfying day.

As he sets his packages down on the table, he wonders what tomorrow will bring...and smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it was a slightly shorter chapter this time, mostly because I did it exclusively from Obito's POV without any of the girls' perspective and that generally makes for a much shorter chapter; also there was no Kakashi, so sorry about that, too. ^_^; He'll be back in the next chapter, though! And his POV sections actually take up most of the chapter, so there's that to look forward to! :D


End file.
